PSY research paper 5-6 pages due Friday, December 8th, 22:00pm est.
ID89757
FinalPaperInstructions.pptxOverview: Students will write a brief research review (5-7 pages double spaced) on a topic of their choosing, so long as it relates directly to Cognitive Psychology. This review must include a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed research articles. The paper is due on Friday, December 8th.
Topics
Perception
Attention
Memory
Knowledge
Language
Decision Making
Final Paper
Example Topics:
To what degree are cognitive processes shared across music and language?
What are the types of cognitive processes that contribute to creating false memories?
What are the best study strategies for doing well in a college course?
*Must write topic in your own words, don’t plagiarize these examples*
Topic
Address your topic using peer reviewed research articles.
Articles that contain research experiments
Review articles cannot be included in these 5, but can use review article as an additional source
Where to find articles? PsycInfo
Peer reviewed Research
Summarize the articles in your paper.
What did the researchers do (i.e. methods)? What did they find (i.e. results)? What does this tell us about your topic?
Connect articles to make an argument.
How do these articles inform one another, and the topic at large?
Example *Published* Review paper: Peretz, Vuvan, Lagrois, & Armony (2016)
Not the same expectation for the final paper, but gives you a sense of structure for a review paper.
Peer reviewed Research
Plagiarism
Everything must be in your own words
Refrain from using direct quotes
Third person point of view/ formal writing
Do not use contractions (e.g. don’t, can’t)
12 point font, Times New Roman, double spaced
Paper mechanics
What is it?
American Psychological Association (APA) style
A writing style used in the social sciences
Used to cite sources.
Why is it important?
Need to give credit to authors who developed original ideas
If these are not your own ideas, need to cite!
Otherwise, you are plagiarizing
Also lets reader know what works you are referring to
Reduces ambiguity
APA Format
How to use it?
In text citations:
When you refer to author’s name(s) within a sentence:
According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
When you don’t refer to author’s name(s) within a sentence, but you refer to their ideas.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998).
APA Format
Multiple authors:
2 authors
Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)
3 to 5 authors
Research by Kernis and colleagues (1993) supports
(Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993) (Kernis et al., 1993)
6 or more authors
Harris et al. (2001) argued...
(Harris et al., 2001)
APA Format
References
Need to include a reference list
Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
Use hanging paragraph
Author(s): Last name and then initials.
Date
Title: Only first word is capitalized
Journal: Capitalized and Italicized
Edition: Italicized
Page numbers: followed by period.
Apa Format
Reference Page
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Resources
| CATEGORY | Unacceptable | Acceptable | Good | Excellent | SCORE | |
| (Below Standards) | (Meets Standards) | (Occasionally Exceeds) | (Exceeds Standards) | |||
| Introduction | Does not adequately convey topic. Does not describe subtopics to be reviewed. Lacks adequate thesis statement. | Conveys topic, but not key question(s). Describes subtopics to be reviewed. General thesis statement. | Conveys topic and key question(s). Clearly delineates subtopics to be reviewed. General thesis statement. | Strong introduction of topic’s key question(s), terms. Clearly delineates subtopics to be reviewed. Specific thesis statement. | 15 points | |
| Focus & Sequencing | Little evidence material is logically organized into topic, subtopics or related to topic. Many transitions are unclear or nonexistent. | Most material clearly related to subtopic, main topic. Material may not be organized within subtopics. Attempts to provide variety of transitions | All material clearly related to subtopic, main topic and logically organized within subtopics. Clear, varied transitions linking subtopics, and main topic. | All material clearly related to subtopic, main topic. Strong organization and integration of material within subtopics. Strong transitions linking subtopics, and main topic. | 20 points | |
| Support | Less than 5 sources supporting thesis. Sources insignificant or unsubstantiated. | Sources generally acceptable but not peer-reviewed research (evidence) based. | Sources well selected to support thesis with some research in support of thesis. | Strong peer- reviewed research based support for thesis. | 20 points | |
| Conclusion | Does not summarize evidence with respect to thesis statement. Does not discuss the impact of researched material on topic. | Review of key conclusions. Some integration with thesis statement. Discusses impact of researched material on topic. | Strong review of key conclusions. Strong integration with thesis statement. Discusses impact of researched material on topic. | Strong review of key conclusions. Strong integration with thesis statement. Insightful discussion of impact of the Researched material on topic. | 15 points | |
| Grammar & Mechanics | Grammatical errors or spelling & punctuation substantially detract from the paper. | Very few grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors interfere with reading the paper. | Grammatical errors or spelling & punctuation are rare and do not detract from the paper. | The paper is free of grammatical errors and spelling & punctuation. | 15 points | |
| APA Style & Communication | Errors in APA style detract substantially from the paper. Word choice is informal in tone. Writing is choppy, with many awkward or unclear passages. | Errors in APA style are noticeable. Word Choice occasionally informal in tone. Writing has a few awkward or unclear passages. | Rare errors in APA style that do not detract from the paper. Scholarly style. Writing has minimal awkward of unclear passages. | No errors in APA style. Scholarly style. Writing is flowing and easy to follow. | 15 points |
